Makeup Tips for Mature / Mature Skin

Look 10 Years Younger With These Makeup Tips for Mature Skin

The preparation of mature skin is no different from the preparation of young skin. There are some do’s and don’ts and some make-up tricks that will make you look five, even ten years younger. MAC senior makeup artist Michele Magnani reveals how you can reduce your age with makeup, using the right products and techniques.

STARTING POINT: SKIN CARE

The starting point towards achieving good skin is and will always be good skin care. Moisturizing and nourishing creams will keep the skin looking young. “Wrinkles cannot be avoided, but slow the natural aging process with good skin care (creams, serums, etc.),” says Michele Magnani. “In addition to that, you can look rejuvenated with proper use of makeup.”

LOOK TEN YEARS YOUNGER WITH THESE MAKEUP TIPS AND TRICKS

1. Three years younger with the use of a primer (3 years)

The primer (MAC’s Prep + Prime) is a new and advanced makeup product that makes a real difference. It is typically used before you apply foundation, like the first coat of paint. The primer will make your skin look younger due to the silicone present in the product. There are prejudices against silicone, but it does not actually penetrate the skin. It lies in a layer atop your skin, akin to a second skin.

Using the primer brings about several advantages:

The surface of the skin appears smoother and more even

The layer of primer on your skin prevents dehydration as it slows the evaporation process and thus retains the moisture level of the skin

Using the primer facilitates easier application of foundation.

Primers contain light reflecting particles that reflects the light upon the skin, making the skin look younger, smoother and tauter.

By using a primer you will need less foundation, and this is very important because for mature skin, the general rule is: the less MAKEUP, THE BETTER.

2. A year younger with the right foundation: foundation, camouflage product and powder (-1 year)

The basic rule for the preparation of mature skin are is to minimize the use of foundation, camouflage products and powder. Less is more!

Foundations

Shave a year or perhaps a few years (why not!) off your actual age by using proper foundation. Mature skin is generally drier than younger skin. As a result, the skin is often more sensitive and may sometimes appear pale or dull. Moisturizing creams and primers are here to help, but foundation does a lot more for your skin. Michele Magnani recommends liquid foundations for mature skin, as it is perfectly suited to the type of skin (generally dry for mature skin).
Apply foundation and always use the camouflage product only where needed. Reverse the sequence and you risk having to apply foundation again after using the camouflage product. You will start building up layers which is precisely what you do not want. Minimizing product use is and will always be the rule!

Camouflage Products

Use camouflage products with a creamy formula, is liquid, light, and the same color as your skin. Preferably it would also have a moisturizing ingredient and hyaluronic acid. Do not make the mistake of using it all over your face.

Lighten the skin under your eyes, accentuate this problem area rather than correcting it. For bluish circles under the eyes (often caused by bluish veins), use a camouflage product with peachy or orange undertones. For reddish circles, choose a product with yellow or beige undertones.

Here, too, use as little as possible so that the product does not accumulate to form lines and wrinkles! Camouflage only the inner corners and the area where the circle begins. Do not put the product on the cheek. Dab the product on the skin using your fingers, or better yet, use a makeup brush with natural bristles. Use the brush in circular motions for a smooth effect. MAC’s Prep + Prime Vibrancy Eyes is an innovative product for camouflaging under eye circles, as it places a kind of film on your skin (this product will be available from April 2011).

Powder

Minimize the use of powder and use it only where necessary. Michele Magnani advises not to apply the powder with a sponge, but with a makeup Brush having natural bristles, and then only in the T-zone and never around the eyes. Even better than powder are powder blot papers: sheets of paper that you place on your skin to absorb the excess fat.

3. Two years younger with highlights (-2 years)

Highlights are makeup products that you can use on your face to bring about a nice sheen to the skin. By playing with lights and shadows, the volumes and depths of your face shape can be “changed”, as it were.

A makeup trick with a “lifting effect“: apply highlight in the area that runs from your cheekbone past your outer corner towards your jaw. By “enlightening” this zone, you create an instant lifting effect and your cheekbones and eyes will seem to be higher than they actually are.

4. A year younger with the right shape eyebrows (-1 year)

The way you shape your eyebrows can make you look younger (or older!). For a more youthful appearance, fill your eyebrows lightly with an eyebrow pencil or eye shadow. Take care to accentuate the highest point of your eyebrows. Make the eyebrow somewhat angular at that point. This is fierce and young, bringing about a lifting effect. Keep your eyebrows a shade lighter than your hair color.

5. A year younger with the right eye makeup (-1 year)

Wrinkles and fine lines around the eyes? Michele Magnani recommends using mainly eyeshadows that aren’t shiny. For matte or satin textures, creamy eye products are only suitable if they dry instantly, but not if they remain creamy (they fill in lines and wrinkles).

Preferably use lighter colors on your eyes. Of course there are exceptions and there are women who also look good in black or dark brown, but the main rule is: light colors (not white).

Applying mascara to upper lashes is a must. Michele Magnani recommends dotting the lower lashes with a quick drying mascara that “opens the eyes”, as it were.

6. A year younger with cream blush (-1 year)

Cream blushes are great for mature skin because natural shine of the skin declines with age. For a fresh-faced look, use lighter colors like pink or peachy tones.

Apply the blush on both of your cheeks. You can do this by smiling at yourself in the mirror and placing blush over the cheeks and toward the ears. Avoid the 80s method: making a hard line-blush on the cheekbones.

7. A year younger with brightly-colored shiny or glossy lipstick (-1 year)

Just like the skin, the lips should be ‘prepared’ with a primer (MAC Prep + Prime Lips). This primer makes the application of the lipstick easier, ensures that the product remains longer and prevents the lipstick smudging.

Michele Magnani recommends the use of bright, fresh colors. Creamy lipstick or glossy metallic colors make anyone look old. Bright colors (neon orange, bright red, plum red) can be very beautiful, but gold coloured and matte lipstick should be avoided at all costs. Creamy and glossy lipsticks reflect light, giving the lips more volume (thereby making the wearer appear old, as lip volume decreases over the years).

LAST TIP: USE MAKEUP BRUSHES

Stop using makeup sponges and use makeup brushes instead. The advantage is that you will end up using less product (less is more) and that the products will be applied evenly.

“Mature woman can look young, pretty and feminine with the right techniques and very little makeup. Never should a woman ‘, says Magnani, “forget that they are a woman, whatever age they may be. A little makeup can accentuate their femininity and create a young, fresh and attractive look that overpowers their “motherliness” or “granny-ness”, radiating an image of womanhood instead.

Summary of makeup tips for mature skin

• Use a primer before applying foundation

• Use a liquid foundation that is the same shade as your skin

• Minimize use of foundation and camouflage product

• Use blot powder instead of loose or pressed powder

• Highlight the area of your cheekbone from the outer cheeks towards the jaw.

• Make the top of your brows angular

• Use light eyeshadow

• Do not use metallic or cream eye shadow

• Choose pink or peach cream blush and apply on both your cheeks

• Use only creamy or glossy lipstick with fresh light colors. Avoid matte or metallic lipstick